Rotating toy



E. H. WILLIAMS ROTATING TOY Filed Dec. 7, 1954 Nov. 26, 1957 INVENTORQ [firm/ e7 M70605 United StatesPa fifl l ROTATING TOY Elmore H. Williams, Miami, Fla. Application December 1, 19s4, s-e n51 No. 473,627

' 4 cram. or. 46-51) The present invention relates to toys and more particularly to the hand-held rotary or whirling type, an object of the invention being the provision of a toy of this character which will be amusing and retain the interest of children and adults alike.

Another object is to provide a new and novel rotary toy of simple and inexpensive construction which is both durable and safe for a child of any age to play with and teaches balance and timing and is easily used in a confined area.

The device includes a plurality of spools with each spool suspended on a flexible loop depending from and attached to opposite points of a pair of side arms at one end of which is a hand-grip, another and important object of the invention to impart a swinging of these loops in continuous rotation, as will be described, by reciprocating movement of the side arms which in turn is produced by a like back and forth movement of the wrist.

To these ends the invention consists of a toy the construction and operation of which will be fully set forth in the following description and particularly defined in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings showing one embodiment of the invention and forming a part of the specification are as follows, it being understood that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and that such changes in design and construction may be made as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the toy.

Figure 2 is a side view, the orbits of whirling parts being shown diagrammatically.

Figure 3 is a perspective view in which the whirling parts are shown in their normal position of rest.

In the drawings similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the different views.

Included in the toy are a plurality, up to about six, in this instance three, of light weight spools, 5, 6 and 7 and a frame, the latter being indicated in general by the numeral 8. This frame 8 may be of any suitable material such as wood, metal or plastic and comprises a hand-grip or handle portion 9 from one end of which extend two similarly formed parallel arms, 10, 10. These arms 10 are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the spools 5, 6 and 7 and for approximately half their length lie in the plane of the handle 9. The outer or free end portion of each arm 10 is V-shaped and forms two sides 11 and 12 of a triangle the third side of which is open. The point of convergence of the two sides 11 and 12 is indicated at 13 while the two points at the open side of the triangle, and lying in the plane of the inner portion of the arm 10, are indicated at 14 and 15. From its point 15 and leg 12 terminates in an outwardly turned loop 16.

The spools 5, 6 and 7 are preferably short cylindrical tube members but, could have spherical, cubical or other exterior shape, and could also be solid members having pins on opposite sides to which the loops could be attached. a 4

Extending through the axial bore of the spool is a cord 17 the ends of which are am or otherwise attached to the arms at the points 14. This cord17 is of such p length as toclepenid from thev arms; 10 in'the form of a loop with the spool 5 freely riding the loop atthe bend therein. Likewise a similar loop forming. cor 18 carryingthe spoollis connected to the armslfl at the opposite points 15 while spool fi ls-suspended on a loop 19 connecting the arms 10 at the converging points 13 of the legs 11 and 12 of the triangles.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the frame 8 is a single length of wire doubled upon itself to form a return bend 20 in advance of which the two side reaches are twisted together at 21, the frame portion between the twist 21 and the bend 20 being the handle 9 of the toy. From the twist 21 the two reaches of the wire are turned angularly outwardly at 22, 22 and then forwardly parallel to each other and the handle 9 to provide the side arms 10, 10 the outer portions of which form the angularly disposed legs 11 and 12. And, in this instance the flexible loops 17, 18 and 19 are elastic bands with the loop ends in turn looped over the arms 10 as the means of attachment, each band having a knot 23 at the center to hold it from spreading apart. The knot 23 is not required for the operation. The loops 17, 18 and 19 are preferably made of elastic material. However, loops 17, 18 and 19 could also be made of flexible material such as string, light wire or similar material. Said loops 17, 18 and 19 could also bemade of rigid material such as stiif wire providing a bearing to receive the ends of the stiff wire loops in rotatable manner was provided on arms 10 Gripping the handle 9 and shaking the toy by short forward and back movements of the wrist causes like reciprocation up and down or forward and back, accordingly as the device is held vertically, horizontally or at an angle between the two. This movement of the arms 10 causes the loops 17, 18 and 19 to swing about their respective axis in continuous rotation, the speed of which is increased as reciprocating movement of the frame is accelerated.

The orbits traversed by the spools, 5, 6 and 7 are represented in Figure 2 by the broken line circles 24, 25 and 26, respectively, and it will be noticed that those of the spools 5 and 7 are intersected by the orbit 25 of the spool 6. In this Figure 2 the spools are illustrated as in rotation, the spools and their respective loops being shown in full lines in one position and in dotted lines in a diametrically opposite position. By maintaining a rapid, rhythmic reciprocation of the arms 10 in the up and down direction shown by the two vertical arrows, the spools 5 and 7 will swing in one direction, usually that indicated by the arrows 28, while the swing of the intermediate spool 6 will be in the opposite direction as shown by the arrow 29, the three spools at any given instant being in the same relative position in their orbits.

The direction of rotation of the spools, 5, 6 and 7 as indicated by arrows 28 and 29 is typical of the operation. However, the spools 5, 6 and 7 can also rotate in the opposite direction from that shown as well as any combination of directions of rotation, such as for example,

Fatented Nor/.26, 1951 loops, reciprocating movement of said arms at right angles thereto producing a swinging of said loops and said spools incontinuous rotationfiz 2. A rotary toy aCCOI'dlIlg to claim 1 but characterized by the spacing of'said lo'ops being such that theior,bit;of the intermediate one of said spools will intersect the orbits of the other two spools; 4 e t 3. A rotary toy according to claim 1 but characterized by said flexible loops beingelasticflbands.

4. In a rotary toy, a frame formed of, a singlelength of wire doubled upon itself and bent to provide avhand le and a pair of laterally spaced sidearms said arms includ ing inner portions extending forwardly from and in the plane of said handle, and V-shaped outer portions forming two sides of a triangle, three flexible loops attached to and depending fromopposite points of said arms, the attachment of said being substantially at the three points of said triangle, and a spool slidably suspended on each of said loops.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

